Storage cabinets for stowing and organizing contents have been known for many years. Such cabinets typically include a plurality of drawers. Contents (e.g., files, papers, office utensils) are stowed in the drawers of the cabinet for access by workers. Typically, the center of gravity of the cabinet shifts toward the front of the cabinet when a worker extends a drawer to retrieve the contents therein. The center of the gravity is further shifted toward the front of the cabinet when a second or third drawer is also extended to retrieve the contents therein. The shift in the center of gravity toward the front of the cabinet may cause the cabinet to tip forward resulting in the spillage of the stored contents, or even overturn.
Several attempts have been made to prevent cabinets from tipping forward or overturning. One attempt includes providing a heavy weight attached to the back end of a cabinet. The weight can decrease the degree to which the center of gravity of the cabinet shifts forward as a drawer is extended. However, cabinets of this type are bulky and weighty, which reduces the mobility of the cabinet and increases costs of manufacture and shipping. Another attempt to prevent cabinets from overturning includes anchoring the cabinet to a floor or wall. However, anchoring the cabinet eliminates the mobility of the cabinet.
Still another attempt to prevent cabinets from overturning includes using a cord linking the drawers of the cabinet and having only enough slack to allow one drawer to be completely extended at a given moment in time. When so linked, the cord causes one drawer to retract when another drawer is extended. However, the linking action of the drawers is not smooth or immediate because of slack in the cord, which inhibits a direct response between the extension of one drawer and the retraction of another drawer. Some cabinets include a counterbalance to reduce the slack in the cord, but the counterbalance further adds to the overall weight of the cabinet, which reduces the mobility of the cabinet.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a cabinet for stowing contents that overcomes these and other disadvantages of the related art. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide a cabinet for storing items that does not easily tip forward or overturn when a drawer is extended. Further, it would be advantageous to provide a cabinet that is not weighted so greatly that it is difficult to move. It would also be advantageous to provide a cabinet with interlinked drawers so that one drawer is retracted in direct response to the extension of another drawer.